Most selfie related deaths reported in India

The study mentioned that while 76 Indians died in such incidents, most were under 24.

Mumbai police even established no selfie zones (Photo: Pixabay)

New Delhi: The advent of social media and emergence of platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, which let users share views and images with people across the world, has also given rise to a selfie craze. Although it can have effects on mental health, at times the obsession with selfies has also proved fatal when taken too far.

As youngsters have been in the race for clicking the most spectacular selfies at the most breathtaking locations, instances of accidents often resulting in deaths have been reported from across the world, and now a study suggests that most of these are from India.

Aptly titled ‘Me, Myself and My Killfie’, the research says that out of the 127 selfie related deaths reported from around the world, an alarming 76 have been from India alone. While most of the victims were below the age of 24, people died clicking selfies in front of trains, above trains, on mountains and at the sea shore during high tides.

While Mumbai police designated 16 places in the city as no-selfie zones after deaths of teenagers near Bandra Bandstand in the city, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism also called for awareness drives and selfie-danger zones to be established across the nation.

The study was conducted by the Carnegie Mellon University from US in collaboration with Delhi’s Indraprastha Institute of Information.